Conveying systems



June 23, 1964 R. H. BRUCE ETAL CONVEYING SYSTEMS Filed Feb. 17, 196] www #M i M H WTMM W RUY A HLX owcm R United States Patent O 3,138,408 CONVEYING SYSTEMS Robert H. Bruce, William T. Hill, and Clyde R. Scott, Decatur, Ala., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 17, 1961, Ser. No. 90,110 1 Claim. (Cl. 302-1'1) This invention relates to conveying systems and more particularly to conveyors for transporting staple fibers.

In the textile field, several different staple fibers may be blended to form a uniform mixture of fibers which is then finished into yarn by a well known process. Staple fibers of different lengths, deniers and even colors may be blended together. The different fibers will be uniformly distributed throughout the length of the yarn. In this operation the fibers may pass through several machines each of which performs some operation on the fibers. In one arrangement, the fibers are deposited on a moving belt which carries them past a blender and to a beater. The purpose of the beater is to loosen the clumps of fibers by separating them by a well known manner. The fibers then pass to a baler of a well known type. The baled fibers are then shipped to the user.

One disadvantage of the above arrangement is that the beating operation may overwork and cause brittleness in fibers having a denier above about 5. Also, the beater may actually cause a matting and tangling where the fibers are above about 3 inches in length. With these problems in mind, one of the objects of this invention is to provide a novel and improved conveyor system.

Another object of this invention is to provide a system for removing loose material from a conveyor.

A further object of this invention is to provide a system for diverting staple fibers around a beater and to a baler.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a system for diverting fiber staple from a moving belt.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a diverter for removing loose material from a conveyor without having the material jam between the conveyor and the diverter.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a bladelike member for diverting fiber staple from a moving belt which has spaced air nozzles which prevent the staple from being carried under the member to jam the belt.

One embodiment of the invention contemplates a system having a belt conveyor across which a vertical plate is positioned at an angle to engage and deflect or divert staple fibers in-to a removal duct. A manifold secured along the bottom back edge or downstream side of the plate is provided with a plurality of spaced holes which direct streams of air under the plate to prevent the oncoming fibers from passing under the plate and jamming the belt.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the drawing, in which- FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of apparatus illustrating one embodiment of the invention and showing the plate used to deflect or divert fiber staple from a moving belt,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing the structure of the deflecting plate and the air manifold, and

FIGURE 3 is a View taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2 showing the holes in the air manifold.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, a continuous belt 11 driven by a roll 12 is shown receiving staple fiber 13 from a hopper 14 of a well known type. In actual practice, several hoppers are spaced along the belt 11, each delivering a different fiber staple onto the belt.

When it is not desirable to carry the staple fiber 13 along the belt to a beater (not shown), a diverting or defleoting plate or bafiie 18 is positioned across the belt 11 as shown. The plate 18 is curved and has secured at the lowermost downstream edge thereof a tube or manifold 19 which is provided with a plurality of spaced holes 20 (FIG. 3) for directing streams of air, indicated by reference numeral 21 in FIG. 2, downward and underneath the plate 18 toward the oncoming fiber staple 13 to prevent the staple from going underneath the plate 18 and jamming the belt 11. The tube 19 is connected to an air source 22 through a pipe 23. The ltube is secured to the plate in such a manner that the lowermost portion of the tube is no lower than the lowermost edge of the plate. This prevents stray laments or fibers from snagging and accumulating on the tubes in the event that stray fibers pass under the plate.

A suction chute 27 leading from a chute or enclosure 28 housing the belt 11 is provided for removing the staple 13 from the location of the deiiecting plate 18. A fan unit 29 or any other convenient means may be used for inducing a lowered pressure in the fiber removal chute 27 to withdraw the staple. The chute 27 may be used to direct the staple fiber around the beater (not shown) to the baler (not shown)` The plate 18 is pivotally supported on the pipe 23 so that it can be swung to one side to allow the fiber staple 13 to be carried on past the suction chute 27 to the beater.

In operation of the system, the hopper 14 (and other hoppers not shown) deposits fiber staple 13 on the moving belt 11. If the staple is such that a beating operiation is not desired, the plate or baffle 18 is swung into position across the belt 11 as shown. The staple 13 engages the plate 18 and is deflected or diverted off the belt 11 toward the suction chute 27. The curvature of the plate 18 is such that the deflecting force varies proportionally with distance from the mouth of the suction chute 27.

Air from the source 22 is directed through the holes 20 in the tube or manifold 19 underneath the plate 18 toward the oncoming staple 13 as shown in FIGURE 2. These air streams 21 prevent the staple from going under the plate 18 and jamming the belt 11. If it is desired to beat the fiber staple, the plate 18 is swung to one side (against the Wall of the chute 28) -to allow the belt 11 to carry the staple past the chute 27 to the beater.

It is to be understood Ithat the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein may be modified or amended and that numerous other embodiments may be contemplated which will fall Within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

An apparatus for deflecting loose filamentary material from a moving belt, comprising a plate positioned to extend across the belt at an angle thereto for diverting said 3 4f material oi the belt, a tube having a smooth outer sur- References Cited in the file of this patent face secured to the lowermost edge of the plate on the UNITED STATES PATENTS downstream side thereof, said tube being positioned so that no portion of said surface extends below the lower- 1845562 Sandberg Feb' 16 1932 2,557,623 Wenner June 19, 1951 most edge of sald plate, sald tube having thereln a plu- 5 3 006 457 Weiss Oct 31 1961 rality of spaced apertures positioned to direct streams of air under the plate and downward at an angle against the FOREIGN PATENTS belt, and means connected to the tube for supplying pres- 490,748 Germany J an. 31, 1930 surized air thereto. 668,003 Great Britain Mar. 20, 1950 

